| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he lives in thick darkness. | 1Then Solomon prayed, “O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. |
| 2O LORD, I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently." | 2Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!” |
| 3Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. | 3Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: |
| 4He said, "The LORD God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David. | 4“Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, |
| 5He told David, 'Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel. | 5‘From the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. Nor have I chosen a king to lead my people Israel. |
| 6But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.' | 6But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place for my name to be honored, and I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’” |
| 7Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the LORD God of Israel. | 7Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. |
| 8The LORD told my father David, 'It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. | 8But the LORD told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, |
| 9But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.' | 9but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’ |
| 10The LORD has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David's place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the LORD God of Israel | 10“And now the LORD has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. |
| 11and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the LORD made with the Israelites." | 11There I have placed the Ark, which contains the covenant that the LORD made with the people of Israel.” Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication |
| 12He stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. | 12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire community of Israel, and he lifted his hands in prayer. |
| 13Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet long, seven and one-half feet wide, and four and one-half feet high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, | 13Now Solomon had made a bronze platform 7 1/2 feet long, 7 1/2 feet wide, and 4 1/2 feet high and had placed it at the center of the Temple’s outer courtyard. He stood on the platform, and then he knelt in front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his hands toward heaven. |
| 14and prayed: "O LORD God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity. | 14He prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. |
| 15You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. | 15You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today. |
| 16Now, O LORD God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, 'You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.' | 16“And now, O LORD, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow my Law as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’ |
| 17Now, O LORD God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized. | 17Now, O LORD, God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David. |
| 18"God does not really live with humankind on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! | 18“But will God really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! |
| 19But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O LORD my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you. | 19Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you. |
| 20Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant's prayer for this place. | 20May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. |
| 21Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive. | 21May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive. |
| 22"When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, | 22“If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar at this Temple, |
| 23listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants' claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve. | 23then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Pay back the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence. |
| 24"If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help before you in this temple, | 24“If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn back and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple, |
| 25then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors. | 25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave to them and to their ancestors. |
| 26"The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them, | 26“If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them, |
| 27then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. | 27then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession. |
| 28"The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. | 28“If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is— |
| 29When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their intense pain and spread out their hands toward this temple, | 29and if your people Israel pray about their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this Temple, |
| 30then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) | 30then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. |
| 31Then they will honor you by obeying you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors. | 31Then they will fear you and walk in your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors. |
| 32"Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. | 32“In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands when they hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, |
| 33Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. | 33then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name. |
| 34"When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, | 34“If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to you by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name, |
| 35then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them. | 35then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause. |
| 36"The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by. | 36“If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to a foreign land far away or near. |
| 37When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, 'We have sinned and gone astray, we have done evil!' | 37But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’ |
| 38When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, | 38If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their captivity and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name— |
| 39then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, vindicate them, and forgive your sinful people. | 39then hear their prayers and their petitions from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you. |
| 40"Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place. | 40“O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to all the prayers made to you in this place. |
| 41Now ascend, O LORD God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O LORD God, experience your deliverance! May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give! | 41“And now arise, O LORD God, and enter your resting place, along with the Ark, the symbol of your power. May your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation; may your loyal servants rejoice in your goodness. |
| 42O LORD God, do not reject your chosen ones! Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!" | 42O LORD God, do not reject the king you have anointed. Remember your unfailing love for your servant David.” |
|
